Bed Time Buyer's Guide: 3-6 Months

By Ari Altman

Published February 20, 2017

Updated February 20, 2017

When it comes time to bed time for baby, you want a safe, comfortable, and relaxing environment. We've assembled a list of the very best sleepers, cribs, monitors, and sleep aids you'll find on the market today.

At Home

We used Halo SleepSacks from the moment our little one arrived, and they were truly indispensable. Unlike a lot of swaddles, the Halo SleepSack is super-easy to put on. Just zip it up and close the two flaps using the hook-and-loop closures. You can swaddle your baby arms-in or arms-out, depending on whether they sleep better with their arms down or near their face. Size small is best for babies 3-6 months old.

The Guru's Tip:

The micro-fleece version is wonderful during colder months, although you'll want the cotton version shown below if baby is 3-6 months old during the warmest months of the year.

The perfect swaddle for keeping baby cozy during warmer months, the 100% cotton version of the Halo SleepSack is soft and breathable. Remember that at this age, it's important for babies to sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS, and the Hale SleepSack will help keep them from rolling over.

The Guru's Tip:

For parents who like to dress baby in fleece pajamas during colder months, this cotton swaddle may in fact be all they'll ever need!

The choice of cribs very much comes down to personal preference, but one thing is for sure: you don't need to spend a ton of money to get a safe, high-quality crib. This model is made of nicely-finished pine, and has a four-position mattress, which is a fantastic feature, allowing you to start with the mattress in a high position for infants, and then drop down as they become more mobile. One side can be removed to use it with toddlers, and it even converts to a full-size bed if you buy extra parts (the side rails).

The Guru's Tip:

If you live near an Ikea and want a fantastic deal on a simple, well-made crib, definitely check out the Ikea Sniglar. At $80, it's very likely the least expensive high-quality crib on the market. Unfortunately, shipping on this item is prohibitively expensive, coming in at more than the cost of the crib itself.

Organic and certified for low emissions, this moderately-priced mattress is a great choice once baby is ready to move into a crib. By around six months, babies are big enough that they'll need the extra space to roll around, so even if it seems they don't need this much space, they probably will soon enough!

The Guru's Tip:

While this mattress is relatively firm, that's exactly what baby needs. It provides excellent support, and minimizes any chance of reducing airflow because baby can't sink into the mattress.

If baby really likes to swing his or her arms at night, you may find that a standard swaddle or even the Halo SleepSack we recommend above won't keep them calm, as they can break out of the flaps. In that case, go with the Miracle Blanket, which is perfect for little ones that really need a tight swaddle to sleep peacefully. What makes the Miracle Blanket so different is that the swaddle wraps all the way around baby's body, meaning it's impossible for baby to pop open the flaps.

The Guru's Tip:

It may seem strange that cribs have slats rather than solid panels, which of course leads to limbs hanging outside the crib as well as older infants learning to pull themselves up. The reason slats are important is for airflow as well as to give babies the ability to see and identify their surroundings. It's a tradeoff, but a good one on the whole.

Most children will fall asleep better with a little white noise in the background, and the Hatch Baby Rest will provide that. But it does so much more: you also get a variety of other high-quality sounds, like waves, raindrops, or a music box, plus an infinitely-adjustable nightlight, allowing you to set a hue and brightness most conducive to baby's sleep. And everything can be controlled from the convenience of your smartphone, which will even allow you to create schedules for the Hatch to follow on a daily basis!

The Guru's Tip:

We think any parent will get some peace of mind having this video camera in the nursery. While many parents get by with audio monitor, a video monitor is far superior, as it's much easier to keep tabs on movement than audio while engaged in other activities, like eating dinner or watching a movie. And unlike most video cameras marketed as "baby monitors", this model uses a smartphone, tablet, or PC as the viewing device, rather than a bundled handheld monitor. That provides a huge number of benefits, including the ability to view baby when not at home, as well as the ability to have multiple users view baby independently.

The Guru's Tip:

This device even has a built-in battery to allow 2-3 hours of completely wireless usage. You can learn more about this and all of the Circle's features in the full review on our sister site, The Tech Buyer's Guru.

On-the-Go

For parents traveling with baby, there's nothing trickier than getting a good night's rest (and that applies to everyone, not just baby!). That's why we recommend this lightweight but ultra-comfortable crib, which packs up in less than a minute and comes with a travel case. Just note that while the mattress can be used without sheets, we recommend parents invest in at least one BabyBjorn fitted sheet.

The Guru's Tip:

Some may wonder why this costs so much given how simple it is. In a word, it just works. Unlike so many other "packable" cribs, this one is actually packable!